[colley614]

Hi Guys,

I've got a car battery and a charger that I bought for my ford focus that I used for my water fed pole system. I'm wondering what I should upgrade to?

[Spruce]

I would alway recommend a 85 to 115 amp hour leisure battery. with a split charge relay and boost charged every couple of days (depending on mileage travelled) with an intelligent battery charger.

There are some on here who have successfully used separate car batteries and others who have successfully used their own van batteries. I would imagine your Focus battery is a reasonable size, so how have you managed so far and why do you need to change if you don't mind me asking?
One of the other local cleaners has used 2 car batteries for years but they aren't lasting the day any more. He puts it down to the cold weather, but then a battery doesn't last forever.

Spruce

[keyser soze]

ive got a 75amp hr leisure battery but i regret having it . its the biggest prob i have when i need to have busy day its the first thing that plays up so gonna get a minimum of 110 amp hr so i ve got extra when i need it. a split charger is a must as well . when i get time to fit it

[colley614]

I have been charging it on a slow charge all night but I don't think its very good pulling a battery out the van every night to charge. I want something more professional. I was thinking of some how charging the battery through my van. Either a split charge or by plugging it into an extrenal plug outside the house or maybe a mixture of both. I have seen a battery box with deep cycle battery for £120, I think the battery box works as a split relay and I think you can plug it into the mains. I was wondering if anyone else uses something like this.

[Spruce]

I have the batteries securely secured in the vans. I have a 10amp Numax intelligent motor home battery charger. The cables with the crocodile clips are supplied but are joined with a Torberry connector.
So I purchased one of these for each van from Ebay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TORBERRY-BATTERY-CABLE-CONNECTOR-FIT-HILLBILLY-TROLLEY-/130433700956?pt=UK_Golf_Trolleys&hash=item1e5e74545c  

I removed the red and black terminal covers and cut the terminal end off of the red cable and wired this into the postive cable from the Leisure battery to the Varistream using a strip connector. The black cable I put to earth on a close point to the chassis. If you leave the terminal on you can use one of the screws securing the plylining on the side of the van if you have any. If not, its easy to drill a small whole and secure the terminal with a self tapping screw.

This saves me from messing around at the front end of the vans (where the batteries are) as I just have to plug the charger into this Torberry connector and run the electric cable into the back of the van for the charger and switch on.

These Torberry connectors are brilliant as you can use them as male or female connectors and as they clip onto the side if each other, they can be unclipped and swopped to the other side and match the other connector.

Spruce

[Window Washers]

if you are taking it in and out of your van each day to charge, then I would go for a standard car battery about 85ah, I went down buying the expensive ones and they didnt last any longer, a lot of sellers offer a year or 2 warranty on car batteries 

[steven ainger]

I had a numax 85ah leisure battery, which i charged on a ctek intelligent charger, every night.
It lasted over 4 yrs.